Two words consistently misused by GUST students are "feedback" and "advice".
Students frequently write, or say, "That is a good way to get customer feedbacks" or "I can use Linked in to get feedbacks from employers."
Do not add an "s" to feedback! No need for it. You can say, "I got his feedback" or "They gave me their feedback," and in neither instance does feedback need an "s" at the end. In fact, I don't know of any correct use of "feedbacks". It's not a word. Check with an English professor, or GUST's WILL, for details.
Advice isn't the same as advise
Same thing with the word "advice". Students will say, "My colleagues gave me their advices." No, they didn't, they gave you their advice! There's no "s" at the end of advice! Do not confuse advice with advise. It is correct, sometimes, to say advises, but advice is a noun, and advise is a verb -- kindly look them up in the dictionary.
Please learn how to use these words . . . if you have questions, WILL is a good place to get help!
What's the big deal?
"Why do you make an issue about Basic English?" . . . That's a question students frequently ask me. "Why do you care about my English . . . other professors don't lower my grade because of my English."
There are multiple reasons, and I'll give you just one. When you speak in English to someone who knows English, and who values English, and you use the language incorrectly, the person you're talking to (like me) may think you are lazy, and/or careless, or you never learned how to use English properly. Any one or a combination of those perceptions is negative feedback (!) about you.
When you're trying to make an impression -- let's say you're applying for a job -- and you use English incorrectly, you create a barrier (in other words, you give the person you're trying to impress a reason not to hire you).
Don't create barriers
No one wants to hire someone who is lazy or careless . . . so while you're talking, the person interviewing you is trying to get over that barrier. He or she is thinking, "Is this person lazy or careless? Or did he simply not learn how to use English properly?" Meanwhile, you're telling the person about yourself, but he or she isn't listening to you.
As you continue to talk, and misuse the language, you raise the barrier higher, and ultimately you don't get the job. You may have been the best qualified person for the job . . . but because you could not speak English properly you did not get the job. And, unfortunately, the person who interviewed you isn't likely to tell you the truth! Rarely will an employer say, "I would have hired you, but your English is unsatisfactory!"
Companies that use English want to hire people who can speak English properly. It's as simple as that. It's distracting to listen to someone speak English incorrectly. And it's better that you do not create negative distractions.
Finally, it's a skill
One more point: I don't know anyone who simply woke up one day and knew how to speak English properly and perfectly. In fact, most of us who use English have to continue to work at it all the time. I use a dictionary every time I write. I don't know all the Rules of English, and I frequently ask English professors to help me, or I look up the rules online. If I've got to work at my English usage, why shouldn't you?
Proper English usage isn't a gift, it's a skill. You can learn it as well as I've learned it. You can use the excuse that it's your second language, but that's not going to get you past the distractions and barriers that you create when you speak English incorrectly.
Now you've got my advice (!).
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